Shohei Otani #16 of Japan is seen in the bench after winning the WBSC Premier 12 third place play off match between Japan and Mexico at the Tokyo Dome on November 21, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images)

Pinch hitter Shohei Ohtani #16 of Japan hits a double, which is stuck on ceiling of the stadium, in the seventh inning during the international friendly match between Netherlands and Japan at the Tokyo Dome on November 13, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images)

Pinch hitter Shohei Ohtani #16 of Japan hits a double, which is stuck on ceiling of the stadium, in the seventh inning during the international friendly match between Netherlands and Japan at the Tokyo Dome on

Pinch hitter Shohei Ohtani #16 of Japan at bat in the eighth inning during the international friendly match between Japan and Mexico at the Tokyo Dome on November 10, 2016 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images)

Starting pitcher Shohei Otani #16 of Japan reacts after the top of seventh inning during the WBSC Premier 12 semi final match between South Korea and Japan at the Tokyo Dome on November 19, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images)

Starting pitcher Shohei Otani #16 of Japan reacts after the top of seventh inning during the WBSC Premier 12 semi final match between South Korea and Japan at the Tokyo Dome on November 19, 2015 in Tokyo,

Starting pitcher Shohei Otani #16 of Japan throws in the top of fifth inning during the WBSC Premier 12 semi final match between South Korea and Japan at the Tokyo Dome on November 19, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Masterpress/Getty Images)

Starting pitcher Shohei Otani #16 of Japan throws in the top of fifth inning during the WBSC Premier 12 semi final match between South Korea and Japan at the Tokyo Dome on November 19, 2015 in Tokyo, Japan.

Starting pitcher Shohei Otani #16 of Samurai Japan pitches in the first inning during the game five of Samurai Japan and MLB All Stars at Sapporo Dome on November 18, 2014 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images)

Starting pitcher Shohei Otani #16 of Samurai Japan pitches in the first inning during the game five of Samurai Japan and MLB All Stars at Sapporo Dome on November 18, 2014 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. (Photo

Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto is usually the garrulous type, so his string of one-word answers during an end-of-season press conference at Safeco Field Tuesday was notable.

Also notable was the subject of the aforementioned questions: Japanese phenom Shohei Otani, aka the modern-day Babe Ruth.

Dipoto confirmed the team was "intrigued" by the 23-year-old Otani, who currently stars for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters as both a power-hitting left-handed designated hitter and a flame-throwing right-handed starting pitcher, but wouldn't say more than that.

An unnamed GM told MLB.com last year that the 6-foot-3, 189-pound Otani would have been the best pitcher on the free-agent market had he been available, and over 167 games spanning the last two seasons, including an injury-plagued 2017, Otani has hit 30 home runs and driven in 98 runs.

In his last start of the season on Wednesday, Otani struck out 10 while topping 100 miles per hour in a two-hit shutout of the Orix Buffaloes. He also went 1-for-4 as the Ham Fighters' cleanup hitter.

So yeah, Dipoto is intrigued.

This interest is obvious for a team whose top three needs include depth in the starting rotation and the outfield (in addition to a first baseman). And given Seattle's large Japanese population (third-highest in the U.S. according to the 2010 census), and history with Japanese stars like Ichiro Suzuki, Kazuhiro Sasaki, Kenji Johjima and Hisashi Iwakuma, there's a huge off-the-field draw as well.

But Seattle will have company when courting Otani.

Because he is still under contract with the Ham Fighters, Otani will be subject to the "posting" system negotiated between Major League Baseball and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league, designed to compensate Japanese teams losing star players. The system allows players who wish to move from the NPB to MLB to do so with their NPB team's approval.

The process for Otani to come to MLB would work as follows: First, the league and Nippon Professional Baseball need to agree on a new posting system, according to sources. While the current version caps the posting fee paid to the Japanese team at $20 million, the sides continue to negotiate new terms and are expected to settle on a new deal before November, sources said. The fee is likely to remain flat, allowing Otani to shop for his preferred team, as opposed to the past, when it was part of a blind bidding and handcuffed the player to the major league team that bid the most.

The good news here for Mariners fans is the team won't be in a bidding war with the likes of the big-budget New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers. Instead, Otani will sign a minor-league deal with the team of his choosing along with a signing bonus of between $300,000 and $10 million. According to Fanrag Sports' Jon Heyman, Otani is currently shopping for an agent.

So how can Seattle move to the top of that list? According to multiple reports, Otani wants to join a team where he can pitch and hit.

"It's not like 'I really want to be a pitcher and hit' or that 'I am a batter who also pitches.' That's not it," Otani told Kyodo News in February. "I want to do both. I want to bat well. I want to pitch well. That's the desire I've always had."

While speaking in generalities about no player in particular (of course) Dipoto said he's open to the idea of a two-way player at the major league level.

"It takes an extraordinary athlete," Dipoto said Tuesday. "It takes a leap of faith and believing that you're not going to wear that person or player down, but do I think it's possible? Sure I do, and it's happened before in baseball history."

It's a good bet that Dipoto and the Mariners have a well designed pitch (no pun intended) for Otani. Just don't ask him about it yet.